Love Bites
by Kyoshi7989
Summary: Sometimes I wish Sokka Kuruk was just another vampire—I'd lose a few quarts of blood, and he'd be done with it. But no. Instead, I'm turning into a freak with wings, and pixie dust has nothing to do with it. Tokka VampireFic.
1. Touch the Slurpee and You Die

Chapter 1:

Touch the Slurpee and You Die

**Toph's POV**

If you've ever gotten attacked by a were-thing on your way home from Burger King, let me tell you: not the most pleasant thing to experience which watching your ice cold purple-slurpee get knocked clean out of your hands. Or, in fact, anytime at all.

I tried not to cringe as the monster exhaled its rotten-meat breath right into my face, at this point only a few yards away. So, here I was, in New York City, weaponless, being attacked by a ten-foot tall monster that I probably shouldn't touch with a twenty-foot pole.

Did I mention that I was clean out of poles?

_Nice job, Toph. Very nice job._

I mean, sure, I could handle betrothed mermaids, hunters with a superiority complex, and that super-smexidelic demon who was _totally_ hitting on me at Dairy Queen last month. But seriously, _were-things_? Since when did _my_ magical blood become a radar for all the fairy-tale freaks in the region?

I could understand it if one of my parents was a mermaid, or something like that. But _no_.

My great-great-great-great-grandmother just _had_ to fall in love with that _retard_ centaur, and look where it got me.

Attacked in the street by a giant, hairy monster with an audience of hundreds. Most of which were currently running around like decapitated chickens, yelling for the Army and screaming about the apocalypse and how the fires of hell would come to seize them all.

Gee, Grandma. Thanks a lot.

Ducking as the were-thing made a wild grab for me, spotted a street performer, stilts awkwardly propped across his shoulders, and when of the brave New Yorkers that remained to watch the show. Or maybe he was just paralyzed from fright and my awesome badassness, I dunno. Wasting no time in snatching the stilts right from his grasp, the bemused man snapped out of his stupor and protested, "Hey! Those cost a hundred bucks a piece!"

"Oh, really?" I placed my hands on my hips, and gave him my best glare. "Then do _you_ wanna fight him?"

With one glance from the were-thing, and back at me, he shook his head quickly. I smirked. "I didn't think so. Hey, buddy, I have an idea: why don't you back off and leave this to the professionals, okay?"

In reality, I was making myself seem much more impressive than I really was.

Professional? Ha. I could barely keep my job at the fast food joint down the street, for eight bucks on hour! But you have to admit, I _was _pretty badass. And when you're already _fairly_ badass, it's not very hard to convince people that you're actually _very_ badass, and getting paid for it to boot.

Swinging the stilt across wildly, I managed to tap the monster on the shoulder…and unfortunately divert its attention from the mouth-watering scent of the burger-stand across the street.

I groaned. A _hungry_ monster? Why couldn't I have realized that straightaway? It was too late, now. Apparently, I had been decided a much worthier prize than a handful of over-priced burgers.

With an ear splitting roar, the monster towered above me.

"Hey," I said, unable to keep the quake out of my voice, "Don't you wanna—you know—check out the Burger King down the street?"

He didn't, and before I knew it I was being chased around the street by one super-determined monster.

A huge lamp post was ripped out of the ground and thrown my way, to the dismay of the resident street-maintenance overseer. But as I dodged the post, I noticed two dark shapes diving down from above, soon joined by a third. Dark wings trailed out behind them as they settled on the edge of an oblivious crowd. Then, they folded their wings and sat back to watch the show.

As for me, I didn't know if they were here to help or hinder. Probably just a few angels, popping into to visit the poor, little girl before she made her trip up to heaven.

Oops, did I say poor little girl?

I mean kickass awesome heroine with wicked hair and a wickeder sense of style.

Yet another roar brought me back to my senses. Twirling my stilt above my head, I ran for the monster, screaming at the top of my lungs.

"I hope you like gifts hand-delivered, big guy," I smirked, lifting up the wooden pole like an axe and cracking down directly on his hairy cranium. Howling, the monster clutched his head in pain.

Oh yeah! I _ruled_.

But this were-thing was seriously pissed. Glaring up at my through narrowed eyes, he let out a low rumble, and _charged_.

_Oops._

Leaping out of the way, I rolled across the ground as the monster stretched out for me with big, hairy hands. My stilt felt much, much heavier then it had two minutes ago, and I was loosing steam. Big time.

And that's where my new, winged friends came in.

Stepping in from the sidelines, they watched impassively as I fled the unwanted event that was my imminent demise. Without an inkling of what the hell I was doing, I skidded to a halt in front of them, and panted.

After a moment, the boy spoke up, a huge boomerang stored right across his back.

"You're not gonna win," he pointed out blankly.

"Yeah, I figured," I gasped, doubling over to catch my breath. "Could I have some help, please?"

Arrowhead grinned back at me, and Boomerang Boy looked relieved to finally by joining in the fight. "No problemo."

I shot him a pained smile. "Good to know."

"After you," Arrowhead bowed, smiling, and revealing two huge, pointy-looking fangs.

Simaltaneously, Boomerang Boy reached for the weapon strung across his back, and, with a sigh, allowed two huge, billowy black wings to drift out behind him. "Man, that was cramped," he murmured.

"Sokka," Hair-Loopy pointed out dryly, "we went flying just two minutes ago."

"Two minutes too long," he answered, bracing himself for the attack as the monster, dumbfounded at my sudden disappearence, finally caught on that the three new arrivals were actually on _my_ side.

I was certain, by now: they were vampires, every one of them, and they'd come to rescue _me_.

Okay, I was either really, really special, or really, really pathetic.

Probably the latter.

"Charge!" I yelled, lodging my stilt at the still-furious monster like a huge, wooden spear.

In the blink of an eye, my makeshift weapon was caught in midair, torn it in two, and thrown right back at me—a half of it, at least. I cringed, and waited for the pain of impact.

It never came. Tentatively peeking one eye open, I saw Boomerang Boy standing in front of my, the splintery piece of wood held high above his head. "You're welcome," he said sarcastically. "Because I totally go around catching huge, ripped up stilts all day for overconfident teenagers."

His words stung, but for some reason I didn't think he'd meant them in that hurtful of a way. "I don't think this is the time for _thank yous_," I hissed back at him, and leapt right back into battle with the other two beside me.

Hairy-Loopy and Arrowhead went straight for the monster, kicking and punching, dodging and evading. I raced in behind them and hovered a few yards away, ready for action.

Arrowhead gave him a few expertly placed kicks as Hair-Loopy landed some rock-hard punches and all the right places, and then—

The monster had e-freaking-nough.

I didn't blame them for what happened next—it was instinct. As my giant, furry attacker gave a frustrated shriek and hurled the remaining half-stilt across the street, the two vampires jumped out of the way without a second to spare.

And I, meanwhile, found a ten-foot wooden stilt stuck right through my stomach. With anguished glances towards me, Hairy Loopy and Arrowhead returned to fighting. "Sokka!" Arrowhead yelled desperately, hovering over as Hairy-Loopy and Were-Thing faced off, "Make sure she's okay! And if she isn't..." he hesitated a fraction of a second, before diving down towards the fighting grounds and screaming as he went, "_Ask her_!"

Which kind of left the original Boomerang Boy—now twice confirmed to be called 'Sokka' by his fellow vampires—to inform me oh-so-_wisely_, "Y'know, you're probably gonna die."

"No," I snapped, irritable because, hell, I _was_ gonna die, now that he mentioned it, "I'll just get right up and head over to Dairy Queen, because my shift starts in three minutes. _Yes_ genius, I'm gonna _die_."

He looked rather affronted, but bent down beside my all the same and informed me, "There's another choice. You could, you know, decide to become…" he trailed off.

"A vampire?" I finished for him.

Sokka nodded. "It's only one little bite—that's all, and then about a week for the full transformation to take place. And if you _do_ decide to carry on with your life as one of us, then I can _guarantee_that you will get a pair of badass-awesome wings to go with it," he added, and practically sealed the deal.

"So, how'd I like to be on the cover of the next edition of _My Life as a Teenage Vampire_?" I asked, and did the math in my head. "Whatever. It's better than dying, I guess."

He nodded in agreement, and hesitated. Arrowhead was still kicking the were-thing's ass, and hair-loopy girl was hanging around for backup. It seemed that Boomerang Boy was my one chance for vampirism, and it also seemed that he was having second thoughts about acquainting his teeth with my neck.

And here I thought vampires were all bloodthirsty monsters that actually _enjoyed_ doing this kind of stuff. Go figure.

Boomerang Boy bent down and lingered over my neck for a long moment. "This might hurt a little," he said. "Wait—I _hate_ it when they say that. So this might hurt a lot."

"Good to know," I answered weakly, but pissed as ever. As his teeth sank into the fragile skin of my neck, the world began to spin faster than it had before, and for the first time I questioned my decision.

Maybe I should just let him take a few quarts of blood, and leave it at that.

In fact, the best choice would probably have been to offer up my body fluids while I could.

Gulping, I fought to keep my eyes open, and waited for the blackness to come and take my away.

When it did, I knew the truth.

There was no turning back now.

Vampire Ville, here I come.

* * *

**A/N:**I wrote this chapter twice D: Once from Sokka's POV, but before the fight, and that was kinda boring, so...This isn't my best (duh) but I hope it's an okay start to what'll turn out to be a fairly popular fic. How would you guys feel about a Toph/Sokka POV switch between chapters? It would give me more to work with, that's for sure.

Not sure if I'm gonna continue this, so what do you guys think of it? The choice is in your hands :)


	2. Bloody Thirsty

Bloody Thirsty

**Toph's POV**

The world was spinning.

"Do you think she'll wake up soon?"

"I don't know, Sokka. I sure hope so."

Burst of color faded in and out of my mind, and my neck burned as the cool night air brushed past it. I was shifted to a bridal style position as we continued to fly, wings beating on either side.

"Do you think she was bitten too fiercely?" Hairy Loopy asked, worry and suspicious bleeding through her voice at once.

"Hey, don't look at me!" Once more, a voice came from the same place as the warm arms that encircled my body. Realizing this, I made an effort to wake up, and see what the hell was going on.

"H-hey," I murmured faintly. It was an effort just to raise my eyelids halfway. Gazing up at the blurred image of Boomerang Boy's face above my, I was only able to mutter, "wha'?"

Sokka looked down at me, surprised and please. "Katara! Aang!" He cried. "She's awake!"

I struggled away from the blackness, the utter bliss of being unconscious and oblivious. "Wha'—wha''s goin' on?" I slurred. "Where 'm I?"

They all looked surprised. "Just outside New York," Sokka answered immediately. "We have to take you to a safe place for your transformation."

Something didn't click. "Ya—y'said't w's gon' be a week," I managed to get out, still fighting oblivion.

"Oh, it is," Katara explained from a few feet away, still flapping through the air as gracefully as if she'd been born and raised right up in the sky, "But the first few days are tough. You need to be stationary, and you also need bl—err, supplements," she corrected hastily. "And food."

"Ya were gonna say blood," I accused, my speech returning slowly but steadily. "From who? Don't wanna—don't wanna…kill anyone…" My eyes drifted close, and I forced them open again. "Who?"

"From the vampire that bit you—so, Sokka's," Aang answered, as Sokka harrumphed.

"It's _my_ blood," he said sulkily.

"Well," Katara snapped, temper flaring, "Maybe you should have thought about that _before_ you decided to sit out the fighting. Then you wouldn't have been able to bite her in the first place, would you?"

"I wasn't _sitting out_," Sokka protested. "I was making sure she didn't get hurt!"

"Fat lot of good that did," I muttered, struggling to raise my head. At last, I was able to force my eyes open all the way. My first crystal-clear image as a vampire was of Sokka's face. And, unfortunately, my first coherent thought of said view was _Man he's cute._

I could only conclude that vampirism somehow affected its victim's rationality, sanity, and hormonal drive, all at the same time.

"Are we gonna get there soon?" I asked, brain still moving a bit slower than normal. "Or are is vampire's sense of time skewed or something like that?"

"Somewhat," Sokka allotted. "Like that time Katara said we'd be at the farm in five minutes, but it _took_ seven." He sighed dramatically. "How my stomach mourned."

"So you drink…animal blood?" I wrinkled my nose. "How…appetizing."

Because for some reason, don't ask me why, I was having a craving for blood. Human blood. Man, did my arm look delectable…

And for some reason, cow blood or whatever didn't sound _half_ as good.

_Oh, no, it's starting already_, I thought, horrified, and wracked my brain for a food, _any_ food.

Tacos.

_Ugh_, I thought, skin crawling.

Lobster.

I felt like gagging.

Fried chicken.

Nausea over came me at the mere _thought_ of such an atrocity.

French fries.

My disgust was comparable to a human being forced to consume ridiculous amounts of toilet water.

One last food, my favorite in the entire world. And then…I'd know for sure.

I took a deep breath, and whipped up my best image of a chili-cheese hotdog, steamy, spicy, and ripe the eating.

At first, I thought I'd be okay.

But only for a moment.

'Cause then, I started to really imagine what it would be like to bite into it, with all of its steamy goodness—

And shuddered.

"Oh, God," I said aloud, "I really _am_ turning into a vampire."

"Pretty much," Sokka shrugged. "What _were _you expecting—Ryan Seacrest?"

"No," I scowled, but was disrupted in my comeback by the sudden change in flight patterns. Hey, be careful!" I yelped, as the ground drew rapidly closer below us. "We're gonna crash!"

"No, we're going to land," he explained patiently, tightening his grip. "See?" He jerked his head toward an old abandoned barn far below us. "We're taking you there. Not exactly five star service, but close enough."

We dipped closer to the ground and headed towards the makeshift shelter. As we dived through the rotting barn door, Sokka shouted over the rush of the wind, "Brace yourself!" We skidded to a halt across the rotting floorboards, and rolled a few feet until we came to a screeching halt. For a moment we lay there, a tangled ball of limbs and lose folds of fabric. Then, I realized exactly _who_ I was tangled with, and began to struggle away.

Aang and Katara followed close behind, making considerably more dignified landings. "You better start feeding her," the Arrowhead himself directed at Sokka, making me feel more like a helpless little infant than I ever had before. "Before she gets too bloodthirsty."

"Blood…" I moaned, my mouth watering at the mere mention. Okay, now I was just freaking myself out.

"Are you sure you don't feel like cow blood instead?" Sokka asked me weakly. I eyed him hungrily, and he sighed. "I guess not."

Bending down, he brushed the hair away from his neck. "Okay, take a drink. Just…make it quick."

"I'll try," I said, practically drooling. Then, I slowly crawled over on my hands and knees, and poised over the smooth, tanned flesh.

Part of me couldn't believe what I was about to do. It felt sick and wrong, from the perspective of my old human life.

But I wasn't a human anymore. I was a vampire.

And if vampire's drank blood, then so be it. I was living proof of the fact that we could hardly resist even the mention.

With that thought in mind, I lowered my head and sank my fang's into the perfect skin of Sokka's neck.

It was strange, almost unnerving, drinking from another vampire. Of course I'd never known anything else, but still—it felt binding, almost like the contract Sokka had mentioned.

And besides that, I'd gotten the feeling that drinking another vampire's blood was more than it seemed. What, exactly, did the ritual entail? Friendship? Servitude? Heaven forbid, love?

I mean, it wasn't like I hated the guy, but seriously—we'd better not be sealing ourselves into some sort of forever-faithfulness contract.

As I drank, I expected my thirst to subside. But instead, I constantly found myself craving more, more, more. How could they ever stand it? Was this just a problem with newbie vampires, or when drinking the blood of another?

I had less answers than I would have liked. For the moment, though, I quit the over thinking and focused simply on drinking up.

After a few minutes, Sokka seemed to grow a bit restless. At last, reluctantly, I drew away, wiping my mouth.

"Thanks for the meal, Boomerang Boy," I muttered.

"You're welcome," Sokka answered. "A few quarts of blood is nothing for a new friend, right?"

I eyed him curiously, noting the black humor. Leering at him, I got right up in his face, realizing the perfect scheme for a bit of a joke. "Does that mean I can have another?"

"Err…" Sokka paled. "Well, maybe you should—"

I laughed. "Whatever, Boomerang Boy. As if I want any more of _your_ blood."

He stared after me, befuddled, as I flounced away. It was fun to play this teasing game with him, wasn't it?

But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with this blood-sharing deal. Walking up to Aang and Katara, I asked casually, "So, what was that contract-thing Sokka was talking about? Nothing big, right?"

They exchanged glances. Turning to me, Katara said slowly, "Toph, that was what Sokka was talking about. The vampire-to-vampire blood sharing is normally something only employed for…" she winced.

"Yeah? What?" My voice rose in pitch as I leaned forward, worried.

Katara sighed. "Toph, it's nothing big, unless you really mean it. It's a forever binding contract almost always used ensure faithfulness due to it's 'no way out' applications, and normally used for—"

"What?" I asked, slightly panicked.

"—lovers," she finished.

I stared.

It turned out that panic of mine had actually been _right_.

Me and Sokka? Forever bonded? Lovers?

No way out?

….

….Oh.

Please, I beg of you.

Somebody pinch me.

* * *

**A/N: **Not much action, and not my best :( If you guys think I should take it down, rewrite it and repost it, then I'll have no regrets in doing so, 'kay? Also, just a note, since there were some inquiries last chapter: **This will NOT follow Twilight in any way whatsoever.**Just wanted to make that clear :) Oh, and also: Toph isn't blind. Just wanted to make sure you guys knew...so please, tell me what you thought!


	3. Nightmares Do Come True!

* * *

Chapter 3:

Nightmares Do Come True!

I paced.

And paced.

And then, just for the hell of it, I paced some more.

"Lovers," I repeated, furious. "_Lovers_."

Aang, to my infuriation, remained calm but understanding. "Look, Toph," he soothed, "I had to feed off Katara, and nothing's changed between us, has it?" To my disgust, a slight blush tinged his cheeks even as he spoke.

"First off, I don't really see how I'd _know_, seeing as we just met a few hours ago," I retorted angrily. "And maybe nothing's changed on _her_ part, but I'm thinking it has on yours," I muttered under my breath.

"Toph—just calm down," Katara pleaded. "We did what was best. And Aang's right—it doesn't have to mean anything. Besides," she added, "right now, you only have a one-way contract. You have to remain faithful to him, sure, but Sokka's free as a bird—unless he ends up drinking your blood, too."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause that's _such_ a relief—" I broke off from my sarcasm, as a strange and horrifying thought suddenly hit me. "Wait," I said slowly, "you said faithfulness was _guaranteed_—on my part, at least. So that means that even though Sokka can go around like a total _man-slut_ if he so chooses, I can never—I can never—"

I gulped. "That means I can never kiss another guy! Oh, no," I wailed, beyond the edge of reason and badassery alike. Suddenly it hit me.

"_You_," I hissed, spinning around and stalking over to Sokka. "You _knew_ about this, didn't you?"

Aang and Katara had suspiciously vanished from the barn, with a bounding leap into the night sky.

"Err...um..." Sokka backed away slowly. "_No_," he laughed nervously. "What gave you that idea? _Silly_."

I glared.

"Well...okay...maybe," he amended, caving in the face of my badassery. "But it's happened before," he squeaked at my horrified expression—since I'd actually kinda figured that Sokka was oblivious as I was, "And y'know, it turned out okay."

"This. Happened. Before," I said slowly. "_This happened before_. Well, then we don't have to worry about you _man-slutting_ about, do we?" I asked, voice dangerously soft. "I mean, you've already done _that_." Sokka scurried backwards, falling onto his sorry ass.

"It was the heat of the moment! An accident! And it doesn't matter now, anyway!" Sokka cried, throwing his arms up in a vain attempt to block my anger._Badass _anger, of couse.

I sneered. "So she's dead now? Good riddance," I spat. "'Cause y'know, it's sucky enough that you actually knew we were gonna hafta start acting like _lovers_—"

Suddenly, I realized.

She was _dead_.

Sokka's real, _true_ lover was _dead_.

I shouldn't have cared a single freaking bit. I mean, really. I'd known him for what, five minutes? Most of those spent in life-threatening anger.

But still.

His _lover_.

"Oh," I said in a small voice, "_oh_." Sokka glanced at me, and I could see that he was struggling with the mention of his. Err. Lover. "Well..." I cleared my throat, and squatted down beside Sokka. "I guess...she probably wasn't _too_ bad, right?" I glanced at him. "I mean, you loved her. And stuff."

"Yeah," Sokka admitted, "Pretty much."

I didn't know what to say beyond that, so I just gave him a friendly punch in the arm. "And—about this whole lovers thing," I began, "y'know, it sucks and all, but I really think that we should—"

And then, Sokka's hand was right over my mouth.

"_MMFF_," I said meaningfully. He ignored me, and gave the air a careful sniff.

"Oh my god," he whispered, obviously horrified, before hissing under his breath, "Shit, shit, _shit_."

"_Glormfp_?" I inquired intelligently.

"It's Azula," Sokka murmured back, effectively answering my question of "My god, you dumbass, _please_ tell me what the hell is so _shitty_ about it and why, exactly, you've chosen _now_ to exhibit your disturbing oral fixation."

Slowly, slowly, he removed his hand. "She must've smelled the scent of newborn," he mumbled. "_Shit_." Sokka turned towards me, and explained quietly, "They'll be here in less than two minutes. We have to get out of here _fast_."

"Then a fights out of the question?" I furrowed my brow. Azula _already_ sounded like a crazy little psycho bitch. "And why are we whispering?"

"She has _really_ good hearing. Trust me, I know," he muttered. "And you do _not_wanna fight her," Sokka added, shuddering at the though. "If Aang and Katara hadn't gone flying..." he trailed off wistfully.

"But we're wasting time." Sokka leapt up, glanced at me, and said, "Okay, focus really, really hard. Do you feel any wriggling in your back?"

"Actually..." I shifted uncomfortably. It kinda felt like something was writhing beneath my spine. "Yeah, I do."

"Okay, then your wings are coming soon," Sokka explained, confirming my shrewd suspicion. I squawked as he lifted up the back of my shirt to check. "They're just nubs now, but a few hours from now they'll be completely grown out."

"And _now_..." Sokka looked around apprehensively. "We really _do_ gotta go. Come on, I'll have to carry you," he instructed, holding his arms out in front of me.

"Ew, no way," I refused, crossing my arms. I mightta come far since...two minutes ago, but not _that_far. "Disgusto."

Immature?

Maybe.

But immature in a very _badass way_.

"Toph, just hop into my arms," Sokka insisted. "Or do you wanna get blown up by Azula?"

I thought about it.

Then I decided that, no, actually, I didn't. "Fine," I grumbled, as Sokka scooped me up. Lacing my arms around his neck as he stood and prepared for liftoff, I muttered into his shirt, "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Sokka sprinted towards the open doors of the barn, leaping into the air as we reached the end of the runway. Soon, my ears were filled with the sound of wingbeats.

"When will we get there?" I asked, already listless. "And won't she follow us?"

"Only about half an hour—we're not that far," he answered my first question, to my relief. "And.." A hesitant pause. "I don't _think _she will." Sokka was alarmingly uncertain. "With Azula, it's always about _watch _and _wait_."

"You seem to know a lot about her," I commented. Sokka shrugged.

"Well, she's pretty much our arch nemesis. Her Dad's trying to unite the vampires and take over the world, so it's kinda serious," he explained.

I paled slightly. Take over the _world_? And I thought that was only in the movies. "You never mentioned that!" I objected, flicking him on the forehead.

Sokka winced in return. "Yeah, well, the whole 'saving the world' deal was kinda gonna come _after_the fact that you were a vampire," he admitted. "Katara wanted to introduce the concept to you..._slowly_."

"Well, you sure did a great job of _that_," I grumbled. Snuggling myself up against Sokka's chest—hey! it was _cold_ up there—I closed my eyes. In fact, I was surprisingly tired—it wasn't like I could go all night without blinking, but I prided myself on my ability to stay awake. With the help of a little caffeine, of course.

_Caffeine_.

Surprisingly, Starbucks had not yet lost its appeal. "Hey, Snoozles," I murmured, eyes still closed, "When we get back to New York, remind me to stop at Starbucks, will ya?"

I could feel the surprise radiating from him. Apparently, caffeine-dependence was an abnormality among vampires. "Sure, Toph," he agreed. "If you let me have the next cup of blood we run into."

I groaned in defeat. "Fine." Without another word, I sank deeper into Sokka's warm, cozy sweatshirt and drifted into sleep.

* * *

The next thing I know, Sokka was urging me, "Toph! Wake up, wake up!'

"Okay, okay," I groaned, but clutched the warm entity I could feel hugging me to its chest closer.

"We're in New York," Sokka said desperately. I guess his arms had started aching already.

Oh, now I remember: I'd fallen asleep in his arms. Ho hum...he was warm, and I was cold. It wasn't much of a decision.

"Don't you wanna get up, see the city?" he prodded further.

"New York," I considered, barely mangaging to get the words out. "Place of my death." I snuggled still deeper. "Let me think about that..." I mumbled sleepily. "...Nope, no chance.

I could hear Sokka gnash his teeth. "You know," he sighed, resigned to his fate, "If you don't get up _now_, I'm gonna drop you onto the sidewalk, gum and all. And also...we're outside of Starbucks."

"What?!" I shrieked, giving Sokka a good shove as I leapt out of his arms. "Why didn't you say so?!" I demanded.

"Well...it's been kinda hard," he defended, rising from the ground and brushing himself off. "Everyone seems to think that I'm going to _rape_ you."

We both shuddered.

"Okay then," I muttered. "Let's just go inside." With that, I waltzed into dreamland.

Ah, coffee.

How I'd missed it.

Though what I wouldn't give for a steamy hot mug of blood...

_Ugh_, I forced myself to think, stepping in line with Sokka behind me. I could deal with all of this vampire stuff, but I had to admit, a 'steaming hot mug of blood' was going just a little to far. So for my duration in line, waiting for the wonderous substance that was coffee, I forced myself to think...coffee-ish thoughts. Lots of them.

And also, I pretended I didn't know Sokka. Mostly because by the time I was paying, he'd been forced to run to the WalMart next door and buy a Hannah Montana sweatshirt.

Partly because his was blood-spattered from our earlier encounter.

But mostly because I convinced him that he absolutely _had _to wear clothes that he normally wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

Fortunetly for me, tween sensations and their apparel _definetely_ fell into that category.

"Mm, caffeine." I inhaled the sweet scent of my latte fifteen minutes later, walking out of Starbucks. Sokka had resorted to painfully cramping his wings inside his brand new jacket, his normal sweatshirt having ready made holes in the back.

"What should we do next?" I asked a moment later, squinting as the early morning, yet painfully bright sunshine beamed down through the skyscrapers.

"Probably change out of these," Sokka answered after a moment, picking at his _Hannah Montana_ wear with unconcealed digust. "And then move into a crowd of humans—Azula won't be able to attack us there."

"I sure hope so...though the were-thing sure didn't have any objections." I wrinkled my nose and took a sip of latte at the thought of my attacker.

"I smell a lotta humans...this way," Sokka decided, following his nose as we turned a corner. "Now if only for the clothes..."

"I know!" I snapped my fingers, and raced into a nearly deserted part of the street with Sokka behind me. "Hey, you!" I called after two teenagers, about our size, and wearing school uniforms. They turned to face me, fear flickering across their faces almost simaltaneously.

"C'mere," I beckoned. "Watch and learn, my friend," I whispered to Sokka. "Sometimes, felonies are just too fun _not_ to commit."

The rather stupid kids stood in front of us a moment later, the girl nervously straightening her skirt and the boy glaring as he clutched his books to his chest.

For a moment, I almost pitied them.

Ah, well. I knew it would all be worth it for the expressions on their faces.

"I'm sorry," I said quite seriously, "but we're going to have to steal you're clothes.

* * *

**A/N: **Lol, loved that! I chose this to post tonight instead of I'd Lie, but that'll go up tomorrow. Also, I edited/reposted the chapter...Do you guys like it better now?

Also...do any of you have a DA/lj? So I can friend you :) I'm miss-silverwing both places, by the way (keep the hyphen).

**Edit:** Added some stuff between the time Toph woke up and Starbucks, at the request of a reviewer. So...hope you guys appreciate it!


	4. The Ground I Walk Upon Worships Me

Chapter 4:

Apparently, the Ground Loves Me

The moment the words came out of my mouth, Sokka turned to me, horrified. "Toph!" he scolded severely. "_Vampires don't rape_."

I smirked, and glanced back at the stricken New Yorkers. "Oh, I don't know," I said innocently, "some of those sexual predators _can _get pretty nasty. And, you know," I added after a moment, "be blood drinking magical creatures."

"You have to control your sexual urges," Sokka was still lecturing. Suddenly, he frowned. "Wait," Sokka said slowly, eyes narrowing, "Are you saying you're _not_ a virgin, because I—"

"Shut up, Snoozles," I growled, cutting him off before he could finish the sentence. I could only hope he wouldn't grill me about it later. I'd decided on a nickname when he started carrying me while I was asleep…go figure. "Clothes," I said curtly, holding out my hand as if to accept an offering. "_Now_."

With a whimper, the girl began shedding her uniform quick as lightening. "Errugh," I cringed, turning away as she stripped to her bra and undies. "No matter how sexually repressed I get," I muttered to Sokka as she handed over the uniform, trembling, "please remind me to _always_ stay straight."

"Sure thing," Sokka agreed, squeezing his eyes shut as the boy, too, began to sullenly lose his shirt, "If you'll remind _me_ of the same think. Which," he admitted, brow furrowing, "will probably be soon, since now that I think of it I'm actually _pretty_ sexually repressed."

I didn't even wanna think on that. Neither did our female victim.

Glaring, she backed into the alley wall with her hands guarding her lacy underwear. "Don't even _think_ about it," she hissed.

I shrugged. "Well, I'm always available."

Sokka gave me a sidelong glance. "I'll remember that," he said at last, sounding the tiniest bit faint.

I began slipping off my shirt, and Sokka slapped his hand across his eyes with an embarrassed squeal. "Not right _now_!"

I smirked, and shoved the now discarded article of clothing right into his other hand. "What is it, Snoozles? I'm just changing clothes. Have you never seen a girl without a shirt on before?"

With some internal struggle, Sokka removed his hand and stared directly over me at the alley wall, blushing. "I have _to_."

I raised a skeptical eyebrow. "_Sure_." Stepping out of my pants, I yanked on the skirt with some disgust. "Ugh." I half turned to the girl, to ask her how the _hell_ she survived the day in these things, but to my surprise they both had vanished.

"Huh…" I frowned, and shrugged. "Ah, well. I wouldn't have stuck around to chat, either."

"Not the smartest choice," Sokka agreed, in a struggle with his own, too-small Hannah Montana sweatshirt. At last, he ripped through the fabric with his teeth, letting out a low growl as he did so.

I blinked at the ripped sweatshirt on the ground. "Y'know," I said slowly, "you owe me twenty ninety nine for that."

Sokka thought on this. "You want it back in cash, or favors?"

The corner of my mouth twitched. "What _kind _of favors?"

He eyed me somewhat suspiciously. "Normal ones. Like getting you into a concert or saving you from the evil, pink-loving vampire behind you."

I blinked. "Right." For some reason, I'd been thinking he meant _sexual_ favors. Heh, heh. Silly me. "Weird example, though."

"No, seriously, Toph," Sokka repeated, latching hold of my hand to whirl my around, "I mean I'm _saving you_ from the evil vampire behind you.

"…Oh." I ran my eyes over the slightly put out, obviously pink loving—from her outfit—vampire in front of me. "Yeah," I smirked. "_Real_ fierce enemy ya got there."

She frowned slightly, but soon bounced back into a wide smile. "I can hear you."

I snorted. "And, _the point_."

The vampire frowned again. "Hm." Sliding her fingers through her brown hair, she introduced, "I'm Ty Lee. I'm also here to kill you."

"Toph," I answered back. "This is Sokka."

Ty Lee smiled and gave him a flirtatious wink. "Hey, cutie."

I started to tell her, "Hey, bitch, don't even _think_ about making a move on _my_ man—err, friend" but stopped myself. "Then, since we all know each other," I said slowing, wondering why I was suddenly feeling so _murderous_ towards Ty Lee, "we better get down to business."

"The killing?" Sokka inquired.

I nodded. "Yes. The killing. And then, of course…" I smirked. "The _failing_."

"You're underestimating me," Ty Lee said cheerfully.

"No," Sokka disagreed. "We're really not."

Ty Lee didn't reply, but jumped into the air with a twirling summersault. She rebounded off my hand as I tried to grab her foot. A moment later, Sokka hurled his boomerang straight at her, and I was sure we'd gotten her. But no dice. Using the boomerang as momentum, Ty Lee hurled herself higher, higher, until she was tumbling down at us with breakneck speed.

Her grey eyes flickered from Sokka to me, as if trying to decide who to take on. Apparently, _I_ was more worthy of her attention.

Huh.

Although, actually, that made me feel pretty freaking badass.

Grinning, I danced backward and shifted into a fighting position. "Bring it on, Pinkie."

"Oh," Ty Lee said sweetly, flipping towards me as she landed gracefully on the ground, "I will."

It was kind of weird that we weren't attracting any attention, actually. Obviously, a fight was going on here, and you'd think someone would've noticed it by now. I'd have to ask Sokka if vampires had some sort of badass awesome defensive thingy for that kinda stuff, too.

"Be careful, Toph," Sokka yelled, awkwardly pressed against one side of the alley. "She can completely paralyze you!"

"I can handle it," I shot back. I leapt back as Ty Lee attempted to jab at various points in my body—pressure points, I guess—hissing out swear words through my teeth as I went.

Dammit. I'm telling you, I had _not_ signed up for this.

My foot caught on a fallen brick, and I tripped backwards, falling right onto my ass. As Ty Lee darted towards me, but I few yards away, I threw my hands up to guard my face—more as a reflex then anything else—and was surprised by how hard it was, almost as if I was tugging something _else_ along with it.

Then, I waited for impact.

It never came.

Slowly, I lowered my hands from my mouth, and stared at the newly formed, solid rock wall now between us and Ty Lee.

Apparently, from the lack of noise, groaning, whatever, from the other side—and the lack of pink-clad vampires spidering over the top of the wall—she'd been knocked out.

Whoa.

I was badass.

I was _beyond_ badass.

I was super-ultra-incredible-_wicked_ badass. I mean, seriously. We're talkin' Spiderman, maybe Batman level here.

But I was still confused. I mean badass or not, it wasn't really normal for the alleys of New York to rise up and protect you and it was even weirder to sense that you'd done it yourself.

Even for a vampire.

"What just happened? I'm thinking it's not exactly typical for vampires to move the earth like that," I guessed, straightening out my uniform as I stood up. And that's what I'd done: moved the earth to become a shield.

My vampire friend didn't seem to have the capacity to answer, from the way he was staring at me, mouth agape. "Well." He seemed to be struggling, once again, with the concept of my _totally wicked awesome_ powers. "That's…cool." For some reason, I felt…happy.

But not 'cause he'd just indirectly called me cool. Or anything.

All good feelings towards Sokka, the world, and the vampire race as a whole disappeared with his next words.

"But…y'know. Boomerangs are so much more awesome. And effective. Because extra powers are…I mean…they're not…Katara and Aang have them, too!" Sokka burst out at last, as it trying to convince himself my powers meant nothing

I shot him an indignant look. "And _no one_ thought to tell me that? Well, gee, thanks, Sokka," I said sarcastically, "that _totally_ makes me feel like 'one of the gang.'"

And I wasn't too happy with him right then, either.

Hmph.

Lousy Indian giver. To pretty much _take back_ a compliment just like that…and besides, he was just annoyed 'cause _I _could move the earth and _he_ couldn't.

I wasn't gonna tell him what it had made me feel, either. "So…I guess you're _jealous _of us super power vampires?" I smirked.

"No!" Sokka denied hotly. "My boomerang _always_ comes back!"

I could think of plenty of ways that comment could be considered not-so-subtle innuendo. Leaning towards him, I raised a long, skeptical eyebrow, and said—sounding much more suggestive than I'd intended, "_Really_."

"Yes," Sokka replied stubbornly. "_Really_." So much for innuendo. Or was I just imagining the flush in his cheeks? Ah, well. He was probably just confused.

I hadn't really understood what it meant, either.

"Let's get going," I ordered impatiently, striding towards the bright, sunny streets.

_Sun_.

I shuddered. _Ugh_. It was all bright and nasty and bright and nasty and _bright_.

…Oh, crap. I was _already_ becoming a vampire.

And were those _wings_ I felt smushed inside my stolen clothes? Which actually were going to come to use pretty soon, once we found a nice, dark subway to use, some sunglasses for me and Sokka, and somewhere to hide.

Y'know. A mall or a movie theatre or something like that.

Places where all the _normal_ kids hang out.

Suddenly, it didn't like such a good idea to step out onto the sidewalk, where an entire city—a _human_ city—could see me. _Humans_. I shuddered. Nosy little creatures.

And just yesterday, I'd been one of 'em. Wow. Talk about a change of perspective.

"Toph? Why are you stopping?" With Sokka's voice, I felt a shiver run down my spine. What the hell? A guy had never made me feel like this before.

I groaned inwardly. _Dammit_. Hormone imbalance. 'Cause…it couldn't be anything else.

Right?

But one thing was for sure: I hated pretty much everything about my freaking transformation (so far).

I was beginning to wonder if I should worry that Sokka wasn't exactly on that list.

* * *

**A/N: **Um, weird update time, I know. But I'm leaving two o'clock today for vacation, so...Forgive me? Hopefully I'll get my Tokka Week oneshots done next, then I'd Lie. But don't hold your breath on the last one; I haven't even started...

And also, if you wanna dictate what fandom I write in after I (eventually) leave this one...just hope right on over to my profile page! :)


End file.
